SPORTS EDITOR
MIKE SPIER

Together. That was the St. John Fisher football team’s slogan for the 2006 season and it resonated throughout the year in both practices and games, as it will throughout this entire column.

 I covered the football team this season, from their triumphant victories in games that the experts said they couldn’t win, to the eventual disappointment of not attaining their ultimate goal of reaching and winning the national championship.

Together…the team, for the first time in school history, started the season with a 7-0 record. Among those was the 34-10 victory over conference rival Ithaca, who had denied Fisher the Empire 8 conference crown in the 2005 season.

Together…the team suffered its first defeat of the season by the feet of Springfield’s quarterback Chris Sharpe, who ran for 280 yards and seven touchdowns.

Together…they heard the news that Springfield had lost to Ithaca and that they were back in first place again.

Together…they beat Alfred, 41-13, in the last game of the regular season to become Empire 8 co-champions.

Together…they sat in the Student Life Center and heard the news that they received an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Together…they traveled to Springfield, Mass., for the second round of the playoffs to take a second shot at the Pride. All the critics doubted they could win. But they did, 27-21, and they limited Sharpe to 69 yards and two touchdowns.

Together…they routed the Rowan Profs, 31-0, for their College-record fifth shutout of the year. Eventually this would earn them the Lambert Trophy, declaring them the best D-III team in the East Region.

 Together…they all walked off the field of Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio, after the national semifinal game, hurt by the 26-14 loss, but proud of everything they had accomplished.

Together…the Cardinals finished the season ranked fourth in both the AFCA and d3football.com polls with a 12-2 record, the best in the program’s 20-year D-III history.

Together…despite key losses of senior leadership, the team will bring back a solid core of players and look to contend for a national championship in the 2007 season.

Welcome to the elite class of football teams, St. John Fisher; you got there…together.